Islamic State (IS) group beheads 10 Taliban ultras in Afghanistan

Kabul: At least 10 Taliban militants were allegedly beheaded by the Islamic State (IS) group in Afghanistan where both are locked in a battle for control of many regions, Efe news agency reported on Wednesday.

A group of IS insurgents on Tuesday intercepted a dozen Taliban militants in a remote area in the eastern province of Nangarhar and beheaded them, said Numan Hatifi of the 201st Corps of the Afghan National Army.

The Taliban militants were captured while trying to flee after a gun battle with the Afghan security forces, official source said.

Dozens of insurgents have died or been injured in the last few weeks in armed clashes between the Taliban and the IS to gain control over several regions of Nangarhar.

Hatifi said that the IS, which has arrived in Afghanistan recently, has snatched control from the Taliban in several regions and begun recruiting candidates for its regime.

Regions like Nangarhar bordering Pakistan are of strategic importance for insurgents in Afghanistan where the dynamics of conflict has changed due to the recent rise of new groups loyal to the IS.

IS’s first attack in Afghanistan in April led Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to declare that the country is facing “a new kind of war” by foreign terrorists.

The enclave resembles an encampment, filled with stationary vehicles and rough shelters with blankets or tarpaulins that could be seen flapping in the wind during a lull in fighting as people walked among them

Fire is seen during fighting in the Islamic State's final enclave, in the village of Baghouz, Deir Al Zor province, Syria March 17, 2019. VOA

U.S.-backed fighters said they had taken positions in Islamic State’s last enclave in eastern Syria and air strikes pounded the tiny patch of land beside the Euphrates River early on Monday, a Reuters journalist said.

Smoke rose over the tiny enclave as warplanes and artillery bombarded it. Another witness said the jihadists had earlier mounted a counter attack.

“Several positions captured and an ammunition storage has been blown up,” said Mustafa Bali, a spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia, on Twitter late on Sunday.

The enclave resembles an encampment, filled with stationary vehicles and rough shelters with blankets or tarpaulins that could be seen flapping in the wind during a lull in fighting as people walked among them.

Backed by air power and special forces from a U.S.-led coalition, the SDF has pushed Islamic State from almost the entire northeastern corner of Syria, defeating it in Raqqa in 2017 and driving it to its last enclave at Baghouz last year.

The Islamic State group’s last pocket of territory in Baghouz, Syria, as seen from a distance on Sunday, March 17, 2019. VOA

But while its defeat at Baghouz will end its control of populated land in the third of Syria and Iraq that it captured in 2014, the group will remain a threat, regional and Western officials say.

The SDF has waged a staggered assault on the enclave, pausing for long periods over recent weeks to allow surrendering fighters, their families and other civilians to pour out.

Since Jan. 9, more than 60,000 people have left the enclave, about half of them surrendering Islamic State supporters including some 5,000 fighters, the SDF said on Sunday.

People leaving the area have spoken of harsh conditions inside, under coalition bombardment and with supplies of food so scarce some resorted to eating grass.

Last month, the SDF said it had found a mass grave in an area it captured.

Still, many of those who left Baghouz have vowed their allegiance to the jihadist group, which last week put out a propaganda film from inside the enclave calling on its supporters to keep faith.

Suicide attacks on Friday targeted families of Islamic State fighters attempting to leave the enclave and surrender, killing six people, the SDF said.

Late on Sunday, the Kurdish Ronahi TV station aired footage showing a renewed assault on the enclave, with fires seen to be raging inside and tracer fire and rockets zooming into the tiny area.

The SDF and the coalition say the Islamic State fighters inside Baghouz are among the group’s most hardened foreign fighters, though Western countries believe its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, has left the area. (VOA)